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Tom Law Six days ago trainer Alan Goldberg and owner Richard Santulli came to Saratoga as outsiders in a field of five and left after Laughing’s an upset victory in the Grade 1 Diana. Today they return as the slight choice in the Caress Stakes, a 5 ½-furlong sprint for older females on the grass.
Three days before he brought Saginaw back from a two-month layoff, David Jacobson stood in the viewing stand on the backstretch of Saratoga’s main track and talked about what it was going to take to win Thursday’s $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes.
Bill Parcells was hanging out in his usual spot at the Oklahoma training track and in between a back-and-forth ribbing session with Robbie Medina paid one of the highest compliments to a horse that really packed a powerful meaning considering the source.
The chickens are about to get evicted. Dance to Bristol spent about a week at Saratoga Race Course, including the shade over a minute and nine seconds it took her to win Monday’s Grade 2 Honorable Miss Stakes, and in the meantime interlopers moved into her stall back home at Bowie Race Track in Maryland.
It’s not everyday that octogenarians take on new challenges or go looking for some extra action, but it’s exactly what William Perretti did last year.
Followers of racing in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s know all about John’s Call. Neat horse. Interesting horse. He won two Grade 1 races as a 9-year-old, an age when many horses are long since retired, never mind racing at the top level. None of the ten entered in today’s $100,000 John’s Call Stakes are either quite as old or at that level, but they will be attempting to run a marathon distance where the venerable gelding excelled.
No print edition of The Saratoga Special again Monday so we’ll get our selections out in cyberspace for everyone to see and use.
There’s not a lot that the states of Montana and Alabama have in common. The Yellowhammer state is dominated by college football and racing, but with stars like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Danica Patrick, and Jimmy Johnson, you won’t find many jockeys in Alabama. In fact, Alabama has been without a Thoroughbred racetrack since 1995.
Richard Santulli and Alan Goldberg walked side by side as only friends from way back can do, through the smattering of fans hanging out in the picnic area and on the pavement behind the clubhouse and grandstand. They stopped once, not for a lemonade, popcorn or any of the other concessions in that area, just for a picture with a couple fans.
George Weaver is on fire. There’s no other way to put it.
With three wins from five starts, including his most recent score with Lighthouse Bay in Saturday’s Grade 1 Prioress Stakes, Weaver’s stable has already earned more than half of what he captured at last year’s Saratoga meet.
